Urban Hiking

Saturday we started with an introduction at our language school (to officially begin on Monday). We ran into a huge Harley motorcycle ride going on through the street, I guess that’s not something only in the states. After dinner with my host mother (for those of you not familiar with Mexican meals, the largest meal of the day, “dinner”, is served around 2 or 3 followed by a light snack at 8 or 9 at night), several of us headed to the center of town to walk around the markets and side streets before attending a party at the director of PC Mexico’s house. Current PC volunteers, our Spanish teachers, and other PC staff were all in attendance. The house was amazing. It is centered around a large courtyard with a fountain and also has a roof top te rrace. This is where the night got interesting…

We left as a large group, but since we don’t all live in the same areas, eventually began to break off into groups that lived close to one another. One of the girls in our group lives pretty far away so three of us decided to walk her home to make sure she got there safely. Just after we dropped her off, it began to pour. As we headed back to where we lived we decided that we thought we knew the way well enough to not use the map. Our first clue should have been to turn around once the sidewalk ended. We were walking along a sizable road (similar to a divided highway) and the sidewalk ended, but there is also a river running down the middle of the road so you can’t just cross anywhere. Well instead of turning around and heading back to find a bridge to cross, we decided it would be a really good idea to climb up the embankment and continue walking above the highway through trees, grass, cactus plants, and trash. (about 20 ft above the highway). After crossing a railroad track (which a train did come down) and meeting a dead end at an electrical power station or a 20 ft drop down to the street, we finally decided to turn around and head back for an alternative route. By then we’re soaked, muddy, and bleeding (from a cactus or barbed wire, too dark to tell). By the time we made it back to the sidewalk, the road is now filled with water, so of course every time a car passes by we get splashed. We did finally make it home and when I walked in the door I thought my host mother was going to have a heart attack when she saw how muddy and wet I was. I tried to explain what happened as best as possible in my broken Spanish. Monday we begin our language intensive which will be good since I’m running out of topics of conversation that include words that I know.

Here's some pictures, but more can be found on my flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daninewcomb/

For all the Michigan alums out there, I saw this my 2^nd day in Queretaro, it was only a matter of time……

The first days

After two days in Washington DC we finally landed in Queretaro. It is a gorgeous colonial city full of vibrant colors and small cobblestone streets. For those of you wondering about the group dynamics, the age range is from 24 to 65 (with me being the youngest) and most of the group over 30. There are 5 people over 60 which, though not normal for the rest of PC, is consistent with the average age of the Mexico vol. being 45. There is a range of professors, consultants, business people, environmental educators….. We spent the 1^st night in a hotel and then after a full day of medical and visa information were turned over to our host families. My host mother is great. She and her husband have 2 girls, both around my age, but both are married and do not live at home. She speaks no English, so my Spanish is being put to the test. After arriving at home and unpacking we took a walk to the center of town and watched the festivities associated with the festival of St. Francis, including many dancers and drummers. The highlight of the night was the firework display from the church. In addition to normal fireworks being shot off the top of the church, there was also a large structure that shot off fireworks in different directions (including some into the crowd) and resulted in a huge flaming structure of various religious images. Today we got more general information about safety, health…..but did find out more about our placements after training. For right now it looks like I will be working for SEMRNAT in Puebla (a city of ~ 2 million) doing some sort of watershed management and water quality inventory. That’s it for now. Having some upload issues but pictures will follow soon....

Almost time....

After a whirlwind final week of late nights in Burlington, sports extravaganza (Tigers, Michigan football, and Cubs in 3 days), an endless number of goodbyes, and all things Chicago, its finally time to leave.

And here are the things I know:

1. I am going to Mexico for 27 months.
2. I will be in Queretaro for the 1st 11 weeks.
3. I will have a job that in some way relates to water.


I'm hoping to have some more details upon arriving in Mexico, but I guess we'll see, its all part of the adventure........

Last Night in Burlington